Otago marine panel announced

Otago is the only region in New Zealand that does not have a
marine reserve and that would be one thing the 14-strong
panel would look at over the next two years.

Ms Baker-Galloway said it would be an interesting process.

''We have got a full representation of interest from
commercial through to tourism, through to environmental and
recreation so there will definitely be differences of opinion
and we will work through those.''

She said the purpose of the panel was to find out what was
important to the various communities in a vast swath of
coastline from Timaru to Waipapa Point.

Conservation Minister Dr Nick Smith announced the
appointments on Monday.

Ms Baker Galloway said they had a wide range of tools to
choose from including the Fisheries Act and the Resource
Management Act.

''What I am keen to see is for us to make full use of the
range of mechanisms there are to look after and manage both
commercial and environmental values.''

Recommendations were due to be presented to the Minister for
Conservation and the Minister of Fisheries by the first
quarter of 2016, after the community had been consulted on
them.

Marine reserves are great because the increased fish stocks
within them spill over to the areas where you can fish!
Marine reserves are typically installed where fish stocks are
depleted or where some marine animal is endangered. However
neither of these are mentioned in this article? Hopefully
that will be included in the information so we can make
informed submissions at the consultation. We don't want a
marine reserve just for the sake of it, or just because
"Otago is the only region in New Zealand that does not have a
marine reserve." It needs to be legitimate so it will
be interesting to see what comes from the panel.